


The Case of the Missing Statue

by shopgirl152



Category: Phineas and Ferb
Genre: Detective Story, Gen, Humor, New York, One Shot, POV First Person, Parody, Private Detectives, Private Eyes, Private Investigators, Puzzles, Temple of Juatchadoon prequel, The Statue of Liberty, missing puzzle piece
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-01
Updated: 2016-02-01
Packaged: 2018-05-17 13:09:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5870869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shopgirl152/pseuds/shopgirl152
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>New York. It’s a nice city, all things considered. Bustling with people, pleasant during the day. Who am I, you ask? The name’s Flynn. Ohio Flynn. I’m a Private Eye. I’ve been in business for eight years and I’ve seen a lot of strange things happen in this city. Things you wouldn’t believe. But nothing was as strange as The Case of the Missing Statue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Case of the Missing Statue

**Author's Note:**

> So this was an original story I wrote when I was in Junior High. As I was typing up the original version of the story, I suddenly realized it would make a great Phineas and Ferb story. So I rewrote the original as a PnF story. The ending felt sort of flat, so I turned the ending into a bit of a lead in for the Temple of Juatchadoon episode. I realize not every detail of this story fits perfectly with Temple of Juatchadoon, but I hope you like it regardless.

New York. It’s a nice city, all things considered. Bustling with people, pleasant during the day.

But night falls and turns it into a world of shadows where people hang out after dark. Criminals lurk around every corner. Cats knock over trashcans with a resounding clang. Gangs of people made up of bums with messy hair, tattered clothes, tattoos and yellow teeth. Out on the street and homeless because they’ve lost their jobs.

New York at its finest. Who am I, you ask?

The name’s Flynn. Ohio Flynn. I’m a Private Eye. I’ve been in business for eight years and I’ve seen a lot of strange things happen in this city. Things you wouldn’t believe. But nothing was as strange as _The Case of the Missing Statue_.

* * *

 

_Two years earlier, 7 A.M._

My good friend, Baljeet Tjinder, bursts into my office with a face as red as a beat, sweat trickling down his cheek like raindrops on a window pane. He tries to catch his breath.

“Ohio! I just discovered something so amazing you will not believe it!”

I eye him coolly, giving a subtle nod. “Go on.”

“This morning, I was out for my usual early morning walk, which I take every day at six A.M, and after the walk, I took the Ferry over to Liberty Island where the Statue of Liberty stands.” His eyes widen. “And do you know what I saw?!”

“What?”

“Nothing! The Statue of Liberty…was…m-missing!”

“Missing?! Egads man! Do you know what this means?!”

He blinks at me. “No, what?”

“Well, I don’t know. I was hoping you could tell me.” Baljeet’s face suddenly pales and his legs wobble beneath him. “Buddy, are you—“

 _Boom_. He faints before I have the chance to get to him.

Well, as long as he’s out, I might as well give you a bit of background. See, where we live, the Statue of Liberty is a major tourist attraction for New York. People come from all over the world to see it and having it disappear like this? Well, it’s not very good for business. Riots; tourists wanting their money refunded; not good. But, lucky for New York, I’m going to investigate this disappearance and find out who did it! Or my name isn’t Ohio Flynn, Private Eye!

I get down on my knees next to Baljeet, lightly smacking him in the face. “Baljeet, wake up. Come on Buddy, wake up.” More slapping, but he’s unresponsive. There has to be some way to… I grin, whispering in his ear. “Hey Baljeet, Ginger Hirano’s standing at the door and boy does she look good.”

His eyes pop open and he jumps to his feet, rushing to the door. “Ginger?! Ginger, where—oh.” He glares at me.

“Sorry buddy; she’s not here. I had to bring you around somehow.” I start laughing.

“That is not funny.”

“Sorry.” I swallow another burst of laughter as I stand up and grab my coat, making sure to place the magnifying glass inside before opening the door. “Come on; we have a disappearing statue to investigate.”

* * *

 

By nine A.M, Baljeet and I are headed to the scene of the crime. We take a rowboat out to Liberty Island and I take my magnifying glass out of my coat pocket, hopping out of the rowboat and investigating the statue’s foundation.

Baljeet, meanwhile, offers a running commentary.

“Oh what a gorgeous day! Is it not a gorgeous day?” he asks.

“Mmhm.”

“Ohio, are you listening to me?”

“Baljeet, be quiet. I’m trying to think.”

“Oh. Heh. Sorry.”

I sweep my magnifying glass all over the foundation, but can see nothing that would even be considered a clue. Until…

The magnifying glass finds something on the ground and I pick it up, studying the object a moment. It looks like a puzzle piece. ”Hey Baljeet, what do you make of this?”

He reaches up from where he’s perched in the rowboat and studies it. “I think it may be the missing piece to the puzzle we are trying to solve.”

“Well yeah, it’s a puzzle piece, but why would it be here?”

“Maybe a tourist dropped it.”

“Maybe. Or maybe…” I run the piece between my fingers, studying it again. “You know, in a weird kind of way, it looks like it’s one of those 3-D puzzle pieces.”

“But where would it go?”

“No idea. I bet if we knock on some doors, we’ll be able to find the owner. We’ll take care of this, then get back to figuring out where the Statue of Liberty went.”

* * *

 

We knock on the door of several people’s houses and ask them if they’ve seen the puzzle piece before and if it belongs to them.

Several look puzzled—sorry—about our inquiry. A few even ask us why we’re looking for the owner of a puzzle piece. When we tell them we found it at the foundation of the missing Statue of Liberty, several of the people faint.

“You realize it is not just me who faints at this news,” Baljeet points out as we drag yet another person into their home.

“Yeah, I know.” I study the person in front of me. “Maybe we should stop asking people; I’m running out of smelling salts.”

“How many houses are left?”

“Just one. It looks like it belongs to…” my eyes narrow. “Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz.”

“Your old nemesis.” Baljeet nods knowingly.

“Y’know, in retrospect, maybe that’s where we should have started.”

* * *

 

Minutes later, Baljeet and I are standing outside of Dr. Doofenshmirtz’s apartment. I knock on the door.

“Hang on, hang on, I’ll be there in a min—“ he opens the door and glares at me. “Oh. It’s you again. Go away!” He starts to shut the door, but I stick a foot inside, holding up the puzzle piece.

“Heinz, what do you know about this puzzle piece?”

“And what do you know about the missing Statue of Liberty?” Baljeet questions.

“Him too huh?” Heinz glares at Baljeet. “Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know anything about a missing statue or this stupid puzzle piece. You can’t prove anything. I have nothing to hide.”

“Then you won’t mind if we search the place.” His face pales and he slowly opens the door, letting us inside.

As Baljeet engages Heinz in conversation, I take out my magnifying glass and inspect every square inch of the house. The kitchen comes up clean. So does the living room and the dining room. I make my way into his bedroom and sitting on the nightstand next to his bed is a 3-D puzzle of the Statue of Liberty, complete except for one piece. I take the puzzle piece out of my pocket and it fits perfectly into the slot. I walk out to the living room.

“So Heinz,” I ask casually. “That’s a nice Statue of Liberty puzzle you have in your room.”

“Why thank you! I built it myself.”

“I don’t think you did.”

“I um…well…I…” I wait patiently. “Okay fine, stop staring at me like that. Look. I’ve always wanted to build a 3-D puzzle, but it was always so much work! There’s the box, and all the pieces and then you have to assemble those pieces in the right order and make sure the puzzle stands up…it just wasn’t worth it. So I created…” he uncovers something in a corner of the room. “The Shrink-a-Puzzle Inator!” See see, I combined my Shrink-inator with a Puzzle-inator and used those to not only shrink the Statue of Liberty, but to turn it into a 3-D puzzle!”

“Very clever,” I muse. “But not clever enough.” I turn to Baljeet. “Call the police.”

“The Police?! You can’t bring the police in here! They’ll—“

“Already on it.” Baljeet smirks, dialing the familiar number. “Yes, hello. We have apprehended Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz and need a pick up. They are on their way? Thank you very much.” He hangs up the phone and turns to me. “May I say it?”

“Sure Buddy.”

“This case is wrapped up!”

* * *

 

_Present day_

"So that’s how we solved _The Case of the Missing Statue_. The police came, locked up Heinz and as for Baljeet and I? Well, we reversed the Inator and returned the Statue of Liberty to its rightful place and state. So it’s no longer a puzzle. And—"

“Phineas, I do not mean to interrupt your monologue, but you have a new client waiting.”

“Sure Baljeet. Show him in.”

Baljeet steps aside and a man with green hair walks in. He’s wearing boots, purple pants that go up to his chest and a yellow collared shirt with an explorer jacket over it. A floppy fedora completes the look.

“Hi there! I’m Ohio Flynn, Private Eye. What can I do for you?”

He takes off his hat and sits down in the chair across from me. “The name is Rhode Island Fletcher and I have a proposition for you.”

“Go on.”

“How do you feel about adventuring and archeology?”

“Depends. What’s in it for me?”

“Fame, glory, money…and this.” He takes something from his coat pocket and unfurls it.

“The Amulet of Juatchadoon. You know, I’ve heard about this. It’s supposed to lead to the legendary Temple of Juatchadoon. But no one’s ever been able to find it.”

“Until today.” I quirk a brow as he extends a hand to me. “You could be a great asset.” He gives me a cool smile. “Do we have a deal?”

Y’know, after eight years of being a Private Eye, I could use a change of scene. I smile and shake his hand. “Deal.” I lean back in my chair and call out to the other room. “Baljeet, pack your bags; we’re headed to India.”


End file.
